Books

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Son of a Preacher Man: A Novel (2018)

“I forget that you’re a fella sometimes.”

“Gee, thanks.”

I never forgot that she was a girl. Not for one second…

1959. The long, hot Southern summer bakes the sleepy town of Orchard Hill. Billy Ray Davenport, an aspiring physician and only son of an indomitable traveling minister, is a young man with a plan that starts with working in a small-town doctor’s office before he begins medical school in the fall. Handsome, principled, and keenly observant, he arrives in town to lodge with the Millers, the local doctor’s family. He never bargained for Lizzie Quinlan—a complex, kindred spirit who is beautiful and compassionate, yet scorned by the townsfolk. Could a girl with a reputation be different than she seems? With her quirky wisdom and a spine of steel hidden beneath an effortless sensuality, Lizzie is about to change Billy Ray’s life—and his heart—forever.

A realistic look at first love, told by an idealistic young man, Son of a Preacher Man isa heartwarming coming of age tale set in a simpler time.

I Could Write a Book: a Modern Variation of Jane Austen’s “Emma” (2017)

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich…”

Thus began Jane Austen’s classic, a light and lively tale set in an English village two hundred years ago. Yet every era has its share of Emmas: young women trying to find themselves in their own corners of the world.

I Could Write a Book is the story of a self-proclaimed modern woman: Emma Katherine Woodhouse, a 1970s co-ed whose life is pleasant, ordered and predictable if a bit confining.

Rich with humor, poignancy and the camaraderie of life in a small, Southern town, I Could Write a Book is a coming of age romance with side helpings of self-discovery, friendship, and finding true love in the most unlikely places.

The Journey Home (2017)

Georgiana Darcy has left girlhood far behind her. A young, single mother with two small daughters, she escaped a precarious existence. Now she has returned to her ancestral home, ready to rebuild her life. Her brother, William, welcomed her with open arms and helped her back on her feet. But home is more than a place—it’s a state of mind, and Georgiana has a journey of the heart ahead of her. As her brother falls in love with Elizabeth, the new girl in town, Georgiana finds herself drawn to William’s long-time friend, Sheriff Richard Fitzwilliam, a widower fifteen years her senior. Richard would never want her, or so she believes, but when he’s near, her sorrow vanishes. When Georgiana’s past comes roaring back to haunt her, can Richard and his kind, gentle ways help see her through?

The Journey Home, a companion piece to the award-winning novel 1932, is a stand-alone “sidequel” novella—a story of self-discovery, acceptance, and romance that details one woman’s journey back from despair and forward to her future.

Short Story Anthologies

Rational Creatures (2018)

“A Nominal Mistress”

Elegant, rational, and humble, Eleanor Tilney is the motherless daughter of a tyrannical father and has lived a lonely existence at Northanger Abbey since her brothers left home. Like a Regency Cinderella, she is a kind-hearted princess who can only hope one day to find her prince. As Miss Austen declared, “I know no one more entitled, by unpretending merit, or better prepared by habitual suffering, to receive and enjoy felicity.” —Northanger Abbey, Chapter XXXI.

Rational Creatures is a collection of humorous, poignant, and engaging short stories set in Georgian England that complement and pay homage to Austen’s great works and great ladies who were, perhaps, the first feminists in an era that was not quite ready for feminism.

Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes and Gentlemen Rogues

(2017)

“An Honest Man”

Frank Churchill has always been a favored child of Fate. Adopted by his wealthy maternal uncle after his mother’s untimely passing, he is heir to Enscombe, a grand Yorkshire estate. He has it all: money, education, and a place in society—despite the low connections on his biological father’s side. Frank wants for nothing until he meets the woman of his dreams while on a leisure trip to the seaside at Weymouth. Like his father before him, Frank seeks to blur the boundaries of class for love—and blur the resolve of his lady love. Will she succumb to his charms? And when it seems Fate has turned on him at last, can he force fortune to become his ally, before he tumbles from its favor?

This story is part of an anthology exposing and illuminating the “bad boys” of Jane Austen’s novels.

The Darcy Monologues (2017)

“I, Darcy”

All his life, Liam Darcy has battled high expectations from women, a result of sharing his name with the most famous hero in English literature. When he meets Lynley at a Jane Austen convention hotel, sparks fly, and an enduring flame might ignite—if he can learn from the original Mr. Darcy’s mistakes. Part of a 15-story anthology where Mr. Darcy has his “share of the conversation”.